EM’s Portsmouth Site recently achieved a cleanup milestone with the last load of X-326 Process Building debris placed in the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility (OSWDF).
Office of Environmental Management
September 5, 2023
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PIKE COUNTY, Ohio – EM’s Portsmouth Site recently achieved a cleanup milestone with the last load of X-326 Process Building debris placed in the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility (OSWDF).
Demolition of the X-326 Process Building is the most significant event to occur in the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) era at the site. In a little over a year, workers dismantled the 2,280-foot-long, 552-foot-wide and 62-foot-tall process building and turned it into more than 163,000 cubic yards of debris.
“We are proud of the progress made to safely and effectively bring down this massive structure and place it in waste disposal under budget and in record time,” Portsmouth Site Project Director Greg Wilkett said.
Crews drove the 14,960 loads of demolition debris and 39,249 loads of soil 251,193 miles while completing over 2.1 million safe work hours to complete the waste placement project.
The X-326 demolition project is comprised of D&D, soil excavation and OSWDF operations. The use of engineered fill soil excavated from legacy groundwater plumes and landfills provided the solution to the need for more than twice the amount of soil per waste deposited into each cell. Additionally, the approach prevented the need to purchase clean fill for the OSWDF and expedited the environmental cleanup of the site, providing more land for future use.
“Using lessons learned from other sites along with input from our stakeholders, the completion of the X-326 demolition and excavation of the landfills and plumes is a win-win for the site,” Portsmouth Site Lead Jeremy Davis said.
Workers from the X-326 project, the OSWDF and support projects gathered to send off the last load as Tim Lewis, the driver who delivered the first load to the OSWDF, drove the last load to its destination with Portsmouth Site Federal Project Director Jud Lilly riding along.
“This truly is a Portsmouth cleanup milestone to be proud of,” said Lilly. “The hard work of everyone involved across the Portsmouth Site and beyond has made this a safe and successful project.”
As crews close out the X-326 demolition project, work is already underway to prepare the X-333 Process Building for D&D, along with the construction of three more disposal cells at the OSWDF.
-Contributor: Shawn Jordan
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